New Bedford Social Security office to reduce public hours

NEW BEDFORD — The city's Social Security office will be reducing the hours it is open to the public starting later this month due to reductions in funding provided by Congress, an official with the agency said Friday.

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By CHARIS ANDERSON

southcoasttoday.com

By CHARIS ANDERSON

Posted Nov. 10, 2012 at 12:01 AM

By CHARIS ANDERSON
Posted Nov. 10, 2012 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

NEW BEDFORD — The city's Social Security office will be reducing the hours it is open to the public starting later this month due to reductions in funding provided by Congress, an official with the agency said Friday.

Starting Nov. 19, the office, located in the Federal Building at 53 N. Sixth St., will be open to the public from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., 30 minutes less than it is now, according to Stephen Richardson, deputy regional communications director for the Social Security Administration in New England.

Then, starting Jan. 2, the office will further reduce its hours on Wednesdays, closing to the public at noon.

These changes affect all Social Security offices across the country, said Richardson.

Agency employees will continue to work their regular eight-hour days, but limiting the hours offices are open to the public will enable those employees to complete their work within those regular hours and not incur overtime, said Richardson.

"The significantly reduced funding provided by Congress under the continuing resolution for the first six months of the fiscal year makes it impossible for the agency to provide the overtime needed to handle service to the public as it has done in the past," he said.

According to Richardson, the office's public hours were last reduced about a year ago. At that point, the public closing time was moved from 4 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Richardson did not have information on how much the agency's funding had been reduced, nor did he have information on how much the reduction in public hours would save in overtime pay.

According to Richardson, most Social Security services — applications for retirement, disability or Medicare benefits, direct deposit of checks, replacement of Medicare card, among others — do not require an office visit.

Instead, they can be handled by visiting the agency's website at www.socialsecurity.gov or by calling its toll-free number at 800-325-0778. People who are deaf or hard of hearing can call the agency's TTY number at 800-325-0778.

People who do need to visit the office can call ahead to make an appointment, according to Richardson.